Report: Liverpool defender wanted by former Manchester United manager

According to Spanish newspaper AS, Liverpool loanee Tiago Ilori has become a summer target for David Moyes at Real Sociedad.

The 22-year-old Portuguese Under-21 international is currently on loan at Ligue 1 side Girondins de Bordeaux, but he has not enjoyed the best of times this season.

With only eight league games left, the centre-back’s campaign has been hampered by injury and he has managed just 746 minutes of action in nine appearances.

After settling in under Willy Sagnol, Ilori played four of the opening nine games, but then injuries meant he didn’t play again in the league until Week 23. In recent weeks he has seen his time on the pitch increase, starting against Caen and Paris Saint-Germain in the last two games.

It is unclear whether or not any move from Sociedad would be on a permanent basis or another loan move from Liverpool, but what is clear from his performances in France this season is that he is not ready for first-team football at Anfield next season.

His nine games for Bordeaux equal the same amount of appearances he made for Granada when he spent a season on loan in La Liga. Liverpool would have been hoping that the young defender would have seen more action this season, but will be unlikely to sell a player they bought for £7.5 million (per the Express) from Sporting Lisbon.

Ilori started and played the whole game as Bordeaux beat PSG on Sunday afternoon, but the 22-year-old didn’t cover himself in glory. With his team 1-0 up, the defender would have been expected to deal with a routine high ball, but he let it bounce, looked unsure what to do and Zlatan Ibrahimovic nipped in to poke the ball away from the defender and past goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso.

Ilori will hope to stay fit until the end of the season and play most of Bordeaux’s remaining eight games. Sagnol’s side are currently sixth in the league, just two points off Monaco in fourth. Qualifying for Europe would be a huge success for the club and if Ilori could play a part in the final few weeks, it would be fantastic for his development.

Andrew Gibney

Andrew Gibney started following France's Ligue 1 about 10 years ago and it is an obession that has stayed with him ever since.His writing career started as a hobby, but now he calls Lille, France his home and spends his weekend either watching Lille OSC or teams down in the fifth division of the French league pyramid, forever searching for the next Eden Hazard.A typical Glasweigan, he once walked 106 miles in seven days, from Sheffield to Lille, just to avoid paying for the Eurostar. Managing to talk his way into a few freebies from other clubs along the way.